"Maybe the Indians should start eating boerwors"

So writes my friend from Durban, who went to see the one-day international in which India merely confirmed their reputation as bad tourists. Oh, they are polite and well-mannered all right with the locals; they don't haggle excessively; they are reasonably familiar with local customs. That last one is the problem I think. The local custom is to carve up Indian cricket teams on quick pitches with a battery of fast bowlers who swear, sweat and swing. The swearing puts the Indians off their game; the swing puts the bails off their stumps. Its a well-established pattern. The Indians don't feel like being rude and interfering with the programme thats been laid out. They could, but that would mean much disruption and soothing of ruffled feathers. Better to co-operate and go along for the ride. All these crowds showing up - they aren't showing up to watch the Indians bat. They're showing up to watch those sweating, swearing and swinging fast bowlers. It says so in the tour brochure "Come watch our bowlers make the Indian batsmen dance" - or something like that.

Back in the 19tn century, a young Indian lawyer taught the South Africans the meaning of non-violent resistance. The Indians are still non-violent; there just isn't any resistance to be found.